


Do you hear the Mockingjay?

by Anonymous



Series: Toonkind D&D Fics [8]
Category: The First Drafthouse (Toonkind D&D)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, Angst, Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, M/M, Multi, Murder, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Tagging Everyone, im not strong enough
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:35:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27242782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: And the winner of the 75th hunger games is...
Series: Toonkind D&D Fics [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1989043
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Chapter 1

001:

The both of them promise, over broken bones and bloody noses: They'll get Shorts Kid home alive.

Jack doesn’t voice his doubts.

For all that the Engineer snaps and growls and brandishes his words like knives, Jack knows- perhaps better than most- that he isn't made for this. That the director doesn't have it in himself to kill. He's so angry, but his anger blazes outwards, directed at the capitol and not the other tributes. 

(As it should, but righteous anger doesn’t help keep Shorts Kid safe. Jack was never a killer, but he’d always been good at adapting, and well-)

(Shorts Kid holds Jack’s hand through the night, a tiny slip of a child curled up into the Engineer’s side, and Jack stares at them and knows exactly what he’s willing to give.)

002:

Tobias pins Mersel down on the ground with his boot. Mersel smiles up at him. He can measure the capitol ratings going up and down in purple eyes.

“You-” He starts and stops, helpless. His words are failing him.

“Breathe, Toby.” They say softly, and he shuts his eyes past a fresh wave of pain. Every inch of him is cold. The hand at Mersel’s throat is the only warm thing on his entire tired body, everything he is trapped in that connection. “Take your time.”

“You killed them.” He says again. He’d watched- and regretted it. “You didn’t even give them a chance to fight back.”

Mersel giggles. It doesn’t sound like them at all. “You’re not going to kill me.” He replies. A statement. A fact, even as his eyes seek out the sleek lines of Tobias’s rapier, a gift from his sponsor.

Tobias’s hand hangs there for a few moments. _It’d be merciful,_ he thinks, but the thought rings hollow. He pulls away, every cold inch of himself drawing back.

“I’m not.” He admits. It feels like defeat.

003:

Jack is annoying and talks too much and gets on Alibi’s nerves. 

They still get on like a house on fire in the ways that matter. Alibi looks up from the fire at his partner for the day, and he thinks of what he would have given for this kind of companionship, once. This easy camaraderie.

He doesn’t know if they feel the same. He hopes so. (He prays.)

“Do you think,” he asks later, and the words chafe his throat raw, makes him feel vulnerable and exposed, but death has never felt as near as it does now. “That if we met outside the games, we could have been friends?”

Jack pauses from where they’re filling up their bottle. His hands don’t tremble from where they’re held underwater, though his nose twitches. He doesn’t turn to look at Alibi.

“Maybe.” He answers, and disappears into the forest. Alibi shuts his eyes past the keening sense of loss.

004:

“Stop me if you’ve heard of this!” Prim starts, her hands two pink smears in the dark. Shorts Kid is sitting in her lap, and this close, she can feel the hard beat of their heart, the lines of their body taut. It makes something in her own chest squeeze.

Charlie rolls his eyes. Ollie smiles with his own, and gestures for Prim to continue. The fire crackles between them.

She doesn’t think of who told her this story. She doesn’t think of killing, or of being killed. Here and now, she can almost pretend everything is okay, that their every word and move isn’t being watched. This is her rebellion. She will refuse to acknowledge the possibility of death around her, and at least in this moment, it will have to be enough.

“On a dark and stormy night…” Prim continues. Her hands find Shorts Kid’s and squeezes.

005:

The Engineer finds Larry with a fistful of poisoned berries still staining the blue of their hoodie.

“ _Why?”_ He asks. Red seeps into his own feathers, orange tipped with crimson. Larry’s eyes are shut, and his shadow is getting lighter and lighter by the second. The Engineer’s own colors mirror the transformation- orange to yellow to gray. 

“I’m not playing their game for them.” He murmurs tiredly, a washed out off white. The Engineer’s claws dig into fabric. The tone, the circumstances…. It’s almost too much.

But then Larry turns to him, and for the first time tonight, cracks spider through their emotionless tone, little glimpses into how shaken they are. 

“...You’ll keep the kid safe, right?”

_Oh,_ The Engineer thinks, weak with the weight of those words. His heart is breaking, but he’s also fiercely proud, almost sick with it, because even now- even after all this, despite everything- Larry still thinks of the cheerful child who managed to worm their way into all their hearts.

He’s made this promise with Lucky Jack. He makes it again, here in this cave, running a thumb over red stained fabric. “Ay lad. Ah will.”

“That’s good.”

Larry doesn’t ask him to stay. The Engineer does anyway, until the cannon sounds, until he can hear past the roaring in his ears.

The Capitol will call it infection. The Engineer knows it to be choice.

006:

“Come on, stop looking at me like that. It’s cold.”

Rowan is tucked under one of Alibi’s arms, his orange fur tickling the underside of Alibi’s chin. He holds himself stiffly, even as the other snuggles closer.

“I don’t care-” He starts, but Rowan just presses a finger to his beak.

“It’s cold.” They repeat. What they don’t say: _it’s okay. I’m not going to kill you._ Alibi hears it anyway. He grits his teeth.

...It really is cold. He sighs, and allows himself to sink into the warmth.

“Scootch over a little.”

Come morning, the two will part ways. But for now, they lean on each other and relish in the absence of cold.

007:

It’s an accident, and that almost makes it worse. The last thing Primrose and Alibi will hear is Rhode’s guilt ridden, terrible screaming.

The last thing Alibi thinks is this: _at least they already grieved. Prematurely, but that doesn’t matter anymore, does it?_

The last thing Prim thinks is this: _I wanted to see them again._

008:

Tobias sees smoke rising in the distance.

He doesn’t investigate.

009:

“I’ll take the first shift.”

Mersel watches as the others accept it. Charlie and Shorts Kid gravitate to each other, clinging to each other, and he has to look away.

Bob sits next to him for the first few minutes. “A-Are you okay…?” He asks, gesturing at Mersel’s, well, everything. He probably looks like a mess, dark circles under his eyes, hair paler than it’s ever been.

Maybe if he was less selfish, he would tell Bob the truth. Of the capitol, of puppetry spells, of deaths that could be laid at his feet. Of Tobias, the point of their rapier moving away from his throat; of Mersel, sitting up in the field, fighting hard enough that the purple leaked from his eyes. He would tell Bob to pack up Rad, and Shorts Kid and Charlie, and he’d tell them to leave.

(He’s so tired though. And Bob is familiar and warm, and he. He can’t lose anyone else. He can’t mourn Prim alone.)

“I’m alright.” He says, and Bob accepts it. He wakes up Charlie an hour into the night.

All of them let Shorts Kid sleep.

010:

He regrets not telling Bob very quickly.

(Smells like smoke and regrets.)

011:

Tobias finds Ollie amongst the flowers.

He doesn’t want to do this. He can’t. But Ollie had smiled at him, and gestured him over with a trusting wave, and pressed flowers into the gaps between his fingers, blue and yellow and pink and all the colors in between. Ollie had moved Tobias’s hand to their neck, eyes sombre.

They’re old, after all. Even if Tobias doesn’t do the deed, Ollie has killed one person in these games already: this is only fair.

Tobias shuts his eyes. He doesn’t want to do this. He can’t. He does it anyway, as cleanly and swiftly as he can, apologies streaming out from under his breath. _I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry._

Ollie smiles up at him. Tobias closes their eyes and buries them in the flowers.

012:

“Did you really kill Mooves?” Jack asks. Snailien is perched on his knee. A truce, for the night.

Snailien looks away.

(DJ Mooves had always known how to play the cameras. A diversion, a crowd, and a whisper. _It’s okay dahling. You’ll knock them dead._ )

(Snailien eats the bread the sponsors have sent her. Who doesn’t love betrayal? Mooves had always known how to play a crowd.)

013:

Shorts Kid cries themself to sleep, shoulders heaving, cheeks wet with tears, holding her grief in, in, in. They’ve counted the cannons, seen the flickering pictures on a horizon that doesn’t seem to stretch outwards. They know, and it hurts them, and they’re sick with it. It almost feels like they could die from it.

They don’t. They shake until sleep comes, and resume shaking when they wake up.

014:

Engineer doesn’t let Mersel into the cave. That’s fair. He’s not sure if he trusts himself enough to go in either.

He sits at the entrance instead, feeling cold to the bone. The Engineer radiates warmth in waves, and even this far away, Mersel can feel it. He’s not sure he deserves it.

“... do ye know how ah started directin'?"

It’s an olive branch. A distraction from the thoughts swirling in his head, the puppetry spell still grafted into his bones. He anchors himself to the words, holds them like a lifeline.

“No.” He answers, shutting his eyes.

He doesn’t sleep that night either. But he and the Engineer trade stories, and he almost feels like himself again.

015:

Tobias pulls on the bandage, causing Jack to hiss in pain. “Stay still.” They tell him, fingers wrapped in gauze.

“Easy for you to say.” Tobias levels him with an unimpressed look. Jack has had practice dealing with those though- and actor or not, no stare could ever compare to Bon’s.

(The thought makes something in him hurt, makes him miss the studio and the freedom he once took for granted, so he pushes it aside.)

Tobias wraps the rest of his wounds. “You have to take it easy.” This time, Jack scoffs.

“Yeah right.”

016:

Rhode lets Tobias into her shelter.

(It’s the least she can do. The screams still haunt her sleep. She wonders, as the night grows long and the fire grows smaller, whether Tobias knows. She’s not brave enough to ask.)

017:

Jack thinks of home.

Not for too long. He can’t afford that. But one of the sponsors drop him a carrot cake, and he can’t help thinking back to the studio, and home, and he pretends his eyes don’t sting.

018:

Shorts Kid leans into Nyx’s side, trusting as anything and so very kind, and Nyx-

He doesn’t want to die. He really doesn’t. He wants to live, and to do that he has to win.

(But.)

(Shorts Kid holds Nyx’s hand through the night, a tiny slip of a child curled up into his side, and Nyx stares at them and doesn’t know what he’s willing to give.)

019:

Rhode smiles as she’s killed.

Nyx keeps his hand over Shorts Kid’s eyes, and ushers them away.

020:

“It’s okay Toby, it’s okay.” Mersel smiles up at him, and it’s there’s no trace of purple, and Tobias could _cry,_ is already crying. It was a mercy and he knows it, his hair bleached white as he’d aimed, but now the apathy is leaking out with his tears. His hands shake from where they’re supporting Mersel’s head, resting on his lap. “It’s okay.”

They raise their own hand then to cup Tobias’s cheek, tracing lazy circles and flowers onto it with their thumb, arm shaking from the exertion. The poison is going to kill them. He knows this.

(He’d had to do it. Because Mersel had killed Snailien, and that- too much, that, that was too much. Tobias had aimed, and he’d pulled the trigger.)

Mersel’s smile is sad and sweet and wholly his as he pulls Tobias closer, knocks their foreheads together. His eyes are knowing- he’s counted the cannons. He knows what Tobias means to do. “It’ll be okay.” He says, and Tobias squeezes his own eyes shut as the breath leaves them.

(The cannon sounds as Tobias braids the flowers Ollie had given him into Mersel’s hair. “You fought back.” He whispers, his fingers shaking around a primrose. “You saw me, but you didn’t move.”)

021:

“Jack?”

“Hm?”

“You won’t die, right?”

“...Yeah kid, I won’t.”

022:

They fight, but it’s all style no substance, really. Glancing blows, pulled punches, more spar than battle. The Engineer and Tobias are actors. They know how to make it look convincing.

Spoken out loud: “Ah can’t believe ye” “I need to win’ “I don’t want to die”

Unspoken, but heard: _I understand, I’m sorry, I don’t want to die._

The Engineer pins Tobias to the ground with a knife, feathers washed out. It’s still an act- the weapon didn’t even graze- but the capitol does not know that. The capitol only sees and hears what they want.

The Engineer doesn’t give them what they hope for. He never will. "I hope yer ne'er had a doubt about it, but jes' tae make it clear: I love ye, Toby." He says, and he pulls out his knife, and he backs away.

Tobias is supposedly red with anger, but his eyes are a deep shade of blue.

023:

The Engineer doesn’t have to look up when the cannon sounds. He knows who it is.

024:

“If we don’t kill each other, then they’ll have to let us win together!”

It’s a solid plan, and Shorts Kid grins up at them, sure. It could work, if they stick at it long enough. Maybe it’d only take a few days.

(The wound in Shorts Kid’s stomach grows darker, and darker, and darker.)  
  
(Shorts Kid doesn’t _have_ days.)

025:

Nyx meets Lucky Jack’s eyes, and he knows what he’s willing to give now. Not this. Never this. He meets Jack’s eyes, and sees that they understand. 

That doesn’t make it any easier though. He’s crying, he knows- even though he’s choosing this, even though he knows it’s coming- he still doesn’t want to die. He wants to live.

He doesn’t want to pay the price though, so here he is, and he turns towards the Engineer and lunges.

(The Capitol wants a show? He’ll give them one- let them think that his tears are of regret and guilt, that he means to kill.)

(Jack’s spear pierces him through the chest, and then he feels nothing at all.)

026:

Shorts Kid is asleep, curled up in their faded purple hoodie.

(Have they always looked so small?)

027:

“K-Kid? Kid, wake up-”

“No. _NO!”_

028:

“Ah cannae live wi'oot them, and ye know ah cannae hurt ye.”

(The Engineer, smaller than he’d ever seemed, an even smaller body tucked into his lap, pulled close to his chest. The whirring of helicopter blades. Soon, Shorts Kid will be taken away.)

"but ah want ye tae live wi'oot regrets, so... let me help ye with tha'."

(Lucky Jack, holding his spear, and he can’t, he _won’t-_ )

029:

He'd always been good at lying to himself.

The Engineer turns his back, and Lucky Jack moves.

030:

**_“AND THE WINNER OF THE 75TH HUNGER GAMES…. LUCKY JACK!”_ **

000:

.

.

“And… cut.”


	2. Bloopers

001:

The Engineer reads through the script with a focus generally only reserved for either impromptu adoptions or one-upping DJ Mooves, before turning to look up at Larry.

“...d'ye want te talk about anything, lad?”

“No.”

002:

“...Why am I killing seven people?” Mersel asks over the script that was wedged under the kitchen door for him. “Actually, why am I even in this movie?”

“The guy we got playing the role turned out to be a real assassin.” The owl explains, shrugging. “So we took a vote and everyone said you deserved a chance to vent.”

He’s about to protest further, but Tobias and Primrose enter the room then, and he’s quickly buried under the weight of two bodies. “You’re going to be playing in a movie with us!!” Prim squeals, her wagging tail leaving bruises on his leg that probably will persist for a while. Tobias says nothing, but they’re lit up entirely in yellow and pink.

And because they’re both individually his biggest weaknesses in life, nevermind together, he resigns himself to reading the script over lunch with a sigh.

003:

“Mahybe.” Jack says through a mouthful of cookies that weren’t meant for him.

The directors barely manage to end filming before an eldritch blast shoots past the camera.

004:

“CUT! Prim, yer tail was wagging again.” 

The wagging is the least of their problems. The minute the cameras turn off, Primrose has dissolved into a fit of giggles, so infectious that even the others have to hide a smile. Shorts Kid doesn’t even bother hiding theirs, joining in the laughter with cackles of their own.

It takes half an hour before anyone is able to calm themself down long enough to film the scene again. 

005:

“....Lad, are ye sure yer okay-”

“I’m fine.” Larry insists, shoving berries into the pockets of his hoodie. Shorts Kid gives a small burp in the background, their own mouth stained red.

006:

“We’re going to have to wait until Alibi stops sputtering to film this scene.” The Owl sighs, shaking their head. Vava von vixen watches the “fox” pace the room and hides a toothed grin behind her glass.

007:

The Explosion, and consequently the death of Primrose and Alibi, wasn’t part of the initial script. This is how it came about:

“I wanna EXPLODE!” -Primrose Poodle

“yawn okay I'll be in your movie but make me die before the second act. I can't be bothered doing a whole film.” -The Mysterious Alibi

(The Engineer thinks of another actor with golden curls and a lackadaisical attitude who would have said something like that, and  _ wonders _ .)

008:

“Sorry I’m late sir, I got held up by the traffic-”

Tobias cuts off. He stares at what was supposed to be his scene. He looks heavenward, and then he points at the mistake of nature, pale red. “OKAY WHO BROUGHT IT OUT HERE AGAIN?!!”

Foambias smiles, uncaring.

009:

“S-Sir, about the budget-” Bob begins, brandishing his pointer in front of him like a shield. The way Engineer lights up when seeing him is sending all sorts of red flags, as is the pile of used film next to them. He’s unsure which one terrifies him more.

010:

Sounds like gross sobbing and a radio playing “Set Fire to the Rain”.

011:

_ I have to go soon,  _ Ollie writes down apologetically.  _ Is there any way to speed things along? _

The Engineer looks at Larry, who is looking at Tobias, who is looking at the flowers Prim is now rolling around in. “...Yes.”

012:

“I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS.” Mooves had yelled, throwing his flippers up as he stomped to his dressing room. “KILLED IN THE FIRST ACT!!”

Snailien preens on Lucky Jack’s knee. Good old Larry, letting them kill someone!

013:

Shorts Kid cries themself to sleep, shoulders heaving, cheeks wet with tears, holding her grief in, in, in. They’ve counted the cannons, seen the flickering pictures on a horizon that doesn’t seem to stretch outwards. They know, and it hurts them, and they’re sick with it-

_ RUMBLEEEEEE _

“Anyone got chicken nugg?” They ask, sitting up and easily wiping away their tears with a scrunched up expression. “I’m hungry.”

014:

“Where’s my hat?”

“Lucky Jack took it to give Shorts Kid Chicken nuggets.”

The sound of screaming escalates in the distance.

“Oh dear.”

“Why did you even  _ have  _ that in your hammerspace??!”

015:

The scene had to be repeated five times.

“Maybe it would help if you didn’t look like that.” Charlie suggests to an irate Bon, who clucks in disapproval at Tobias’s sloppy attempts at first aid.

016:

A shutter, a click.

A sigh.

March lurks in the background of  _ yet another  _ shot.

017:

“Jack are you seriously going to eat all that cake yourself?”

Lucky Jack crams the entire thing into his mouth, parachute and all, and flees.

018:

Nyx will bring this to his grave, but-

Sitting with Shorts Kid was… nice.

(Even if they smelt of chicken nuggets.)

019:

“Good job everyone!” Rhode cheers, ambling to the snack table. She looks far too cheerful for someone splattered in fake blood.

020:

“Alreet lovebirds eet's time tae get a move oan naow.”

Mersel and Tobias don’t stop kissing on set, arms wrapped around each other. Engineer sighs, even as a pink blur streaks past him and towards the two.

“Come on dahling, let them have their moment.” DJ Mooves chuckles beside him. Lucky Jack makes gagging noises from behind them and tosses popcorn. “Who are we to stand in between young love?”

021:

“Jack?”

“Hm?”

“You won’t die, right?”

“N- OW!”

“CUT!!” The Engineer yells out, as Lucky Jack rubs his nose. Shorts Kid continues to shake with sugar rush induced jitters, her forehead nearly nailing Jack in the face again. “WHO GAVE MAH KID SUGAR??!”

022:

“They haven’t stopped fighting.” Bob points out from under his blanket. Larry shrugs.

“They look like they’re having fun!” Prim declares, watching as Tobias throws The Engineer over one shoulder.

023:

Shorts Kid falls to her knees, bruising on cold unforgiving ground. “WHO COULD HAVE DONE THIS?” They wail, clutching their chest. Lucky Jack puts one hand on their shoulder, his own eyes shutting in grief and pain.

Foambias flutters weakly from where they are lying by the tree, crumpled beyond recognition.

(Tobias whistles innocently as he walks away.)

024:

“Sel, look at me!” Vivi declares, running into the room drenched in fake blood.

The yelling that follows is octaves higher than any toon should be able to achieve.

025:

“Oh goodness, this is a mess.” The clerk declares. They look close to tears.

Larry sighs. “We are expected to flog ourselves for entertainment, to work ourselves to the bone and to exhaustion just so the masses can have a brief distraction. But we can define our boundaries, and create in our own way. Suffering does not make art. Agony does not create. They only destroy and leave us broken. If they weren't having a good time making this, then we wouldn't be making art at all.”

A beat.

Larry keeps ruffling Shorts Kid’s hair as the clerk slowly backs away.

026: 

“It’s fine.” The Engineer picks the child up, hoodie and all, with ease. “They’re just sleeping off the sugar.”

027:

“K-Kid? Kid, wake up-”

“No.  _ NO!” _

“Boop.” Shorts Kid murmurs sleepily, grinning up at Jack. “ _ I got the jack nose.” _

028:

Take two.

“...Goodbye, you little shit.”

“CUT!” The Engineer yells, even as Shorts Kid dissolves into maniacal giggles.

029:

This was supposed to be an easy assasination job.

The beagle boys stare at The Engineer, a spear sticking out of them, the culprit wracked with heaving sobs that makes them feel like they’re intruding on something private. Somewhere in the background, they hear opera music.

Collectively, they decide to return another day. A day in the pit (courtesy of pete) is better than this.

030:

**_“AND THE WINNER OF THE 75TH HUNGER GAMES…. LUCKY JACK!”_ **

000:

“....Hey, what about a sequel?”

“No.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To soothe the savage beast (please dont kill me)

**Author's Note:**

> I cant believe this all started from a hunger games stimulator what is my life


End file.
